Tag Archives: theology

The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – A Dangerous Statement

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Today’s Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:14

“The love of Christ controls us.”

One issue believers frequently struggle with is the relationship between living by grace and obedience to God’s commands. When I state that nothing you ever do or don’t do will make God love you any more or any less, and that he accepts you strictly by his grace through the merit of Jesus Christ alone, such unqualified statements sound exceedingly dangerous—leaving me open to the charge of saying in effect that God doesn’t care whether or not you sin.

But consider the alternative: “God loves you if you’re obedient and doesn’t love you if you’re disobedient. Since God’s love is conditioned on obedience, and you’re never perfectly obedient, God never loves you perfectly or accepts you completely.” Such a bald description puts the issue into focus.

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Walking in the Way

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Today’s Scripture: Jeremiah 4-6

But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. – 2 Corinthians 11:3

If you want to be an effective communicator of the gospel, take a close look at the prophet Jeremiah. Three factors about his life made him a dynamic spokesman for the Lord.

First, Jeremiah heard the voice of God with his soul. In Jeremiah 4:19, he says, “Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry.”

Christian, when we read the Bible, we need to ask God to speak to our hearts and our souls. It is not our ears that need changing, but our hearts.

Continue reading The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Walking in the Way →

BreakPoint

BreakPoint – No Tolerance for Religious Tolerance? Denying True Coexistence

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You’ve seen those ridiculous “Coexist” bumper stickers, right? You know, the ones where the word is spelled out using religious symbols from Christianity, Islam, Paganism, Gay rights, Judaism, and so on?

I call it ridiculous because, as someone once wrote: “The C wants to kill the E, X, T, and the O. The O offers peaceful non-resistance, which will be ineffective if real trouble breaks out. The E feels like it’s been oppressed, making it intolerant of the C, the X, and the T. The I and the S are numerically irrelevant, but are just necessary to spell out the word. And the sticker is mostly directed at the T (or the Christian), who ironically poses no threat whatsoever to any of the others.”

In other words, the “Coexist” bumper sticker slogan assumes that each ideology be emptied of its actual conviction if its to work. And according to Colson Center board member Jennifer Marshall, that’s what big business is currently trying to sell to the American people.

In a piece for Religion News Service, Marshall says the recent controversies over religious freedom amount to a test of whether those who so loudly proclaim the need for coexistence are prepared to live by it.

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Moody Global Ministries

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – ONE BODY WITHOUT DIVISION

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Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has won five national championships in three different decades. He describes his approach to building a cohesive team with the analogy of a fist: on their own, the five individual players on the court can’t accomplish much. But when they come together and think of themselves as part of one whole, they can be powerful and effective.

We’ve already seen the apostle Paul use the analogy of the body in his letter to the Romans, and he includes it in his letter to the church in Corinth as well. Clearly this is a message that many Christians need to hear!

Notice several consequences that should result from our recognition of being a part of the larger body of Christ. First, our individual gifts matter and are needed by others. A body needs eyes to see and ears to hear; each part is valuable (vv. 15–20). Second, we must understand that none of us can function properly apart from the rest of the body. What good is an ear lying on a table? How helpful is a severed foot? We must be joined to the body for our spiritual health as well as theirs (vv. 21–24).

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – HOW SHOULD CHRISTIANS RESPOND TO SKIT MOCKING FAITH?

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Saturday Night Live has been mocking Christians for years. A 2013 skit likened Jesus to a movie character who murders his enemies. Another mocked Tim Tebow with a sweat-sock-wearing Jesus in the Denver Broncos’ locker room.

Last Saturday, however, the show’s parody of God’s Not Dead 2 was especially horrific. (For more, see Nick Pitts’s Did a SNL Spoof Go Too Far and Mock God?) In a culture where “pro-life” is “anti-women” and “biblical marriage” is “bigoted,” it’s no surprise that believers feel themselves marginalized and worse. The number of Christians who believe we are facing growing intolerance in the U.S. has drastically increased in the last two years. Sixty-three percent now believe we are increasingly being persecuted; sixty percent also believe religious liberty is on the decline.

As our culture continues its moral trajectory, how should followers of Jesus respond? I’ve been thinking lately about five principles:

One: Expect opposition.

In Acts 20 we read that Paul spent three months in Greece, where he wrote the book of Romans. In the midst of such important ministry, however, “a plot was made against him by the Jews” (v. 3). Persecution will not cease so long as we are a threat to the persecutor. I am naïve or egotistical if I think what happened to Paul cannot happen to me.

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Eternal Security: You Can Be Sure

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Hebrews 7:24-25

We spend a lot of time worrying about physical needs—such as our house, car, food, finances, and health. All these are important in our life, but one form of assurance supersedes all the others. God desires for us to be confident in Him and in His saving grace. He gives us several reasons to be sure of our eternal security.

  • Jesus makes a personal promise to all believers: “No one will snatch [you] out of My hand” (John 10:28)—and He does not make promises unless He intends to keep them. To assume that we can take an action that would separate us from the Lord once we have been saved would essentially be calling Him a liar.
  • The hand of God is used throughout Scripture as a symbol of His strength. Once we have received Christ, we are safely in His palm, and no force or action can remove us. If Satan could snatch us away, either by tempting us into sin or through his own power, it would mean he is stronger than God. We know that isn’t true because God is omnipotent (2 Chron. 20:6).
  • Jesus is our advocate with a holy God who cannot look upon sin. In fact, Hebrews 7:25 tells us that Christ “save[s] forever” because He is available to intercede with God on our behalf. In human terms, Jesus is at the right hand of God as a tangible reminder that our sin debt is paid in full.

Through His Son Jesus, God has offered us not only salvation, but salvation eternally, with no loopholes, caveats, or maybes. You can be sure!

Bible in a Year: 1 Kings 18-19

 

http://www.intouch.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — God’s Way

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Read: Numbers 7:1-9

Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 9-11; Luke 15:11-32

They were to carry on their shoulders the holy things, for which they were responsible. —Numbers 7:9

We really needed to hear from God. Having been asked to foster two young children as an emergency measure just for 3 months, a decision had to be made about their future. With three older children of our own, becoming foster parents to preschoolers didn’t seem to fit with our life plan and having our family almost double in size had been hard work. Our book of daily readings by the veteran missionary Amy Carmichael directed us to some unfamiliar verses in Numbers 7.

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Ravi Zacharias

Ravi Zacharias Ministry – King of the Hill

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Public radio program This American Life ran a special report on a certain sub-culture of people whose prize possessions are their car stereos. They are called “decibel drag racers” and people flock across international borders to join them in competition. Like actual drag racing, cars line up across the track, except in this competition they will not be going anywhere. The winner is the owner of the car stereo that can play at the loudest possible decibel. Oddly enough (that is, more odd than the fact that these systems are too powerful to play music), most of the cars that win this competition are not even drivable. The world record holder at the time of this interview had 900 pounds of concrete poured into the floor of his van. Wind shields usually only make it through three competitions before cracking (and these are not normal windshields). Yet one competitor still seems to entirely miss the irony that there is no longer any room for himself in his car. “We need more batteries,” he laments. “But that’s all the room we have.”(1)

To anyone outside of this extreme audio sport world, “irony” is perhaps a generous word to describe the phenomenon. The TAL reporter was far more articulate: “Everybody wants to be the king of a hill,” he concluded. “But the number of aspiring kings always dwarfs the number of available hills, so in this country we build more hills.”(2) I’m not sure there is a better way to describe it.

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John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – Compassionate Loyalty

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“And many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him” (Matthew 27:55).

The women who supported Jesus’ ministry all the way to the cross are fine examples of compassionate loyalty.

Caring, consistent loyalty is a wonderful characteristic of godly women. This trait is probably more evident in them than it is in godly men. The women by the cross were the main group of believing eyewitnesses to Jesus’ crucifixion. They also showed incredible loyalty in the face of ridicule and danger. This courage contrasted with the disciples who, except for John, had fled in fear the night before Jesus was crucified.

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Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Thankful Soil Grows Humility 

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Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16

By default, I think many of us spend our days focused on our own needs, wants, and desires. From basic health and nutrition to our ambitions and dreams, we are wired to care chiefly about ourselves! As Augustine said, because of sin and brokenness we as human beings are “curved in upon ourselves.” Yet the beauty of the gospel is that when we encounter the love of Christ, not only are we made new but we also learn to turn our focus away from ourselves and onto the needs of others and the worship of almighty God.

One of my favorite quotes comes from 20th century pastor and theologian Michael Ramsey, who once said, “Thankfulness is a soil in which pride does not easily grow.” How true that is! If you struggle, as we all do, with an inflated sense of self-worth or self-interest, rush to plant yourself in the soil of thanksgiving. As Paul reminds us, lift up your heart and soul in thanksgiving and praise to God. Let the love of Christ dwell within you and heal you from the empty love of self.

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Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Timing Is Everything

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For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.

2 Timothy 4:6

Recommended Reading

Hebrews 1:1-2

Think about the timing necessary to keep our solar system stable. Every 24 hours the earth spins on its axis. Every 365.26 days the earth orbits the sun. The moon orbits the earth every 27.3 days. In premodern days, the certainty of those numbers formed the basis of calendars, agriculture, navigation, and more. While calculations today may be easier with computers, those calculations still depend on the timing of the solar system.

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Go with the Flow

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But the meek [in the end] shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.—Psalm 37:11

We can learn to get along with people. It is especially important to learn to get along with our immediate family members and coworkers. There are many informative books about personality differences to help us understand why people feel and act the way they do. Understanding helps to smooth over strained relationships.

People make decisions differently. Some give an immediate answer, while others want time to think about things first. Try to understand the people you will see today. Ask God to show you ways to get along with them. He will give you favor as you trust in Him.

From the book Starting Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – The Power of a Song

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For the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.

Isaiah 12:2

Friend to Friend

Just try to keep my daughter from singing. Go ahead and try. You will fail. She must sing. It’s just her thing. Some days when I’m writing, or simply trying to piece together a coherent thought, I dream that she could travel to a land far, far away from me and hang out in a sound proof room.

Shhhhhhh! Embrace “quiet” already, girl.

I know. When it comes to 24/7 musical expressions, mother-of-the-year I am not.

And I’m okay with that.

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Place of Privilege

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“For because of our faith, He has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to actually becoming all that God has had in mind for us to be” (Romans 5:2).

Interesting, is it not, that because of our faith, which is really His faith imparted to us, He has brought us, you and me, to a place of highest privilege.

What are some of the benefits that constitute this highest privilege?

First, we are justified – considered righteous in God’s sight.

Second, we are admitted into His favor and we abide there.

Continue reading Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Place of Privilege →

Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – The Truth about Sex

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Read: Leviticus 18

No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord. Lev 18:8

Next to the preservation of life the most powerful human drive is sex. Sex, as we are beginning to understand these days, is like a great river which, when it flows quietly between its banks, is a boon and a blessing to us. But when it is raging in full flood, inundating the landscape in permissiveness and promiscuity, it is terribly destructive and hurtful. God’s Word is careful to regulate us and help us in this area. It is amazing that God takes the risk of letting us have this fantastic power in our lives. He doesn’t take sex away from us if we misuse it. He takes that risk with us, with a plea to us that we learn to keep it within its banks.

You can see how God underscores the purpose of these instructions. They are to make you live, not die — not be restricted, not narrowed and hemmed in and prohibited from expressing yourself. No, quite the contrary! They are there so that you might live, might enjoy life to the fullest degree, might find it whole and rich.

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Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – Playing Favorites (Part 1)

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Read: James 2:1-7

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. (v. 1)

Mahatma Gandhi was a wise man, who led India in the independence movement against British rule and developed nonviolent civil disobedience. He was extremely well-educated, and a voracious reader. He was curious about Jesus, and read the Gospels in order to learn more about him. Gandhi often quoted from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. However, he later told how he once tried to enter a Christian church to worship, and the ushers refused to let him through the door, rudely suggesting that Gandhi should “leave or be thrown down the steps.” Gandhi famously said, “Oh, I don’t reject Christ. I love Christ. It’s just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

James makes it very clear in this passage that we often judge or discriminate without even thinking about it! You may not think that you favor the rich, but ask yourself: did you look down on that woman at the store when you noticed she was using food stamps? You passed a homeless man on your way to work recently; did you invite him to church, or offer him a meal? Did you know that some 1.2 billion people worldwide live on less than $1.25 a day (World Bank Web site)?

Jesus said that we will always have the poor among us (John 12:8), and he also said we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. James is just reminding us what that should look like.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, help me to love others without favoritism.

Author: Susan Hetrick

https://woh.org/

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; C.H. God Thing

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Have you ever been so focused on the road that you forget where you are going? Sometimes that happens when following God. Bible teacher and pastor Charles Swindoll once said, “You and I can become so dedicated to the will of God, we can be so driven by a false sense of purpose, that we might inadvertently take matters into our own hands and leave God completely out of the loop.”

They attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

Acts 16:7

In today’s verse, Paul, Silas and Timothy were following God and not a predetermined path. They had a thriving ministry and wanted to take it to Bithynia, but God prevented them from going. Thankfully, the disciples listened and moved on when they could’ve just as easily had said, “We’re doing a good thing and these people need to hear the Good News.” They could have left God out of the loop.

But they did not – and nor should you. Don’t get so focused on a good thing that you forget to ask if it’s a God thing. Ask your Heavenly Father to lead you and the leaders of this great nation in His will, and to seek His enlightening Word to illuminate the road ahead.

Recommended Reading: Psalm 119:105-112  Click to Read or Listen

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Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – An Appointment with God

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“Then the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ ” —Genesis 3:9

God wants to meet with you and me on a regular basis. Think of it, like having and keeping an appointment with God!

I wonder just how many times each day that God wants to speak to us and He can’t get a word in edgewise? The Lord might say, “I have wanted to talk to you for a long time, but you are too busy. This morning I wanted to talk to you, but you didn’t have any time for me. You read the newspapers and watched TV and talked on the phone. You never opened the Word. You never prayed. At lunch I tried to say something, but your prayer was so fast. Later I tried to talk with you. You have been so busy. You have an appointment with Me. Why don’t you keep it?”

Remember how Adam had an appointment with God every day in the Garden of Eden? He would hear the voice of the Lord in the garden in the cool of the evening. One day Adam missed that appointment because of sin. God said to Adam, “Where are you?”

I wonder if the Lord would say that to some of us each day: “Where are you? Where were you? I have been looking for you. I wanted to speak to you. I want you to walk with Me, and I want to walk with you.”

Just imagine, the Creator of the Universe wants to spend time with you. Is there any appointment that is worth keeping more than this one?

 

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – God Wants to Be Your One Desire

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“Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.” (Psalm 73:25)

Imagine that your grandmother has asked you to clean out her attic. You walk up to the top of the stairs and begin wading through old boxes and dusty furniture. You wonder what you should clean first.

Looking to your left, you see an antique trunk sitting in the corner. You walk over, lift the top, and peer inside. There, sitting on the bottom of the trunk, is an old brass oil lamp. You pick it up and gently rub the dust away.

POOF!!!!!

All of a sudden, a genie pops out of the lamp! With a deep, booming voice, he says, “Tell me your one wish and I shall make it come true!” What would you wish for? What one thing do you desire most? If you could have anything in the world, what would you ask for?

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Any Room for Grace?

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Today’s Scripture: Romans 12:1

“By the mercies of God . . . present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.”

Some may ask, “Who can possibly keep a commitment to pursue holiness without exception for even some ‘small’ sins? If there are no exceptions, is there any place for grace? Is God really this strict?”

Yes, God really is this strict because he cannot compromise his holiness the least bit. His goal is to conform us to the likeness of his Son, and Jesus was completely without sin, though tempted in every way that we are (Hebrews 4:15). No, we cannot, or perhaps will not, keep our commitments to God perfectly, but that should at least be our aim. In a battle, some soldiers will always be hit, but each one makes it his aim not to be hit. A lesser aim would be the height of folly for the soldier, and it’s just as dangerous for us in our battle with sin.

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